Those things are notoriously bad as safety devices; I?d suggest something else altogether.
Those GO-TO Safes By Our Beds: Ugh
I got a Gun Vault safe a few years ago on sale, the kind you have a code and bingo! you have a gun in hand if you hear a break-in at 3:00am. Lately it had a screw-up, it wouldn't open the first time I put the code in but the second. Being lazy I did nothing about it, hadn't used it for a bit and tonight it wouldn't open period. This was just to get a gun I wanted to wear not an emergency. Glad it wasn't...
But to show how well my safe was made: after screwing around with the safe itself, I got a screwdriver and carefully inserted the end in the crack at the top of the door. I gave it a slight nudge and instantly the safe was open! (Then I found out it wouldn't close. Great.)
So when mine actually worked it may have been a good way to get a gun in hand fast, but if a burglar came in while I was gone that safe was as easy to open and steal 6 guns from as it was to open a can of Campbell's Soup.
If you want protection from theft, as well as a quick safe to get a gun from, I suggest from my experience you check yours out. All it takes is a screwdriver and a slight nudge on the door. At least you'll know.
Tomorrow I go and get a safe and test it for theft protection - if they let me.
Best
But to show how well my safe was made: after screwing around with the safe itself, I got a screwdriver and carefully inserted the end in the crack at the top of the door. I gave it a slight nudge and instantly the safe was open! (Then I found out it wouldn't close. Great.)
So when mine actually worked it may have been a good way to get a gun in hand fast, but if a burglar came in while I was gone that safe was as easy to open and steal 6 guns from as it was to open a can of Campbell's Soup.
If you want protection from theft, as well as a quick safe to get a gun from, I suggest from my experience you check yours out. All it takes is a screwdriver and a slight nudge on the door. At least you'll know.
Tomorrow I go and get a safe and test it for theft protection - if they let me.
Best
1 - 18 of 18 Posts
We've sold a couple hundred of the Gun Vault brand over the years with very few complaints . Most were related to the biometric models .
Those aren't designed to be super secure. There generally is a trade off between affordability, security and quick access.
The balancing factor the designer has to recognize is that the bedside quick access safe, if approached by a determined intruder, is likely to get carried out and worked on in their garage and will be defeated one way or another. So quick access and affordability will be the trump factors that are designed into the safe.
The balancing factor the designer has to recognize is that the bedside quick access safe, if approached by a determined intruder, is likely to get carried out and worked on in their garage and will be defeated one way or another. So quick access and affordability will be the trump factors that are designed into the safe.
I don't think I have a biometric model.We've sold a couple hundred of the Gun Vault brand over the years with very few complaints . Most were related to the biometric models .
To have it that easy to open makes me feel weird. Maybe I'd be better getting a small antitheft safe to accommodate those guns, and at night leave the combination one digit from the opening one; that would be almost as fast as Gun Vault types and afford some theft protection as well. Course, antitheft safes are going to be more expensive but you can't have everything.Those aren't designed to be super secure. There generally is a trade off between affordability, security and quick access.
The balancing factor the designer has to recognize is that the bedside quick access safe, if approached by a determined intruder, is likely to get carried out and worked on in their garage and will be defeated one way or another. So quick access and affordability will be the trump factors that are designed into the safe.
I was just sort of astounded by how easily my open-quick safe opened for anyone interested. Perhaps mine opened that easily from the former, uncorrected problem of always opening on the second try. I.e., the problem was my particular safe, not the general category. That's possible.
Regardless on how this category of security items are marketed , my take on Gunvault type products is that their primary use is to keep the firearm inaccessible from children or guests ... because the thief can simply smash it with a hammer , pry it open with a tool or carry it away and open it at another location .
I'm sure the biometric model mechanism has been greatly improved since we tried them several years back .
Biometric Gun Safes - Fingerprint Gun Safes | GunVault
If children or guests aren't a factor , I don't see a use for them . A full sized gun safe would be the preferred method for theft prevention .
I'm sure the biometric model mechanism has been greatly improved since we tried them several years back .
Biometric Gun Safes - Fingerprint Gun Safes | GunVault
If children or guests aren't a factor , I don't see a use for them . A full sized gun safe would be the preferred method for theft prevention .
Hollow out a book and leave it close by or one of those wall mount photo frames that's actually hinged with a handgun inside. Or...just leave the gun in a drawer (if there's no children in the house).
Problem here is that this safe has 5 guns in it. My regular safe is stuffed and will take no more. Maybe I should get a hardcover WAR AND PEACE by Tolstoy at about 800 or a thousand pages and put all 5 in there.Hollow out a book and leave it close by or one of those wall mount photo frames that's actually hinged with a handgun inside. Or...just leave the gun in a drawer (if there's no children in the house).
(Greatest novel ever written in my humble opinion....not to go off topic)Time for an anti-theft, anti-fire safe it seems. I have no kids home. I should have listened when the common advice was get more safe than you need. Never believe you know what you don't...
My gun safe, anti-burglar situation seems different. I have my safe queens in a big stand-up save & at night have my Kahr .40 cal about a foot from my pillow & day time it's on my hip ----->
I like to have something to do, like put a code in, so I'm fully awake when I have the gun. Stops mistakes. I figure my idea of getting an ant-theft safe and setting the combo one digit before the digit that opens it would wake my mind up. I'm afraid of being groggy with a gun ready to shoot.My gun safe, anti-burglar situation seems different. I have my safe queens in a big stand-up save & at night have my Kahr .40 cal about a foot from my pillow & day time it's on my hip ----->
If you want security from theft, you have to get a high quality gun vault type safe. Those small handgun lock boxes aren't designed to be safes. It is not their intention. Sure, if bolted down, they do have at least nominal theft deterrence, but that isn't their purpose. They are designed to keep people who shouldn't have access to your gun from getting it, i.e. little kids. If it's just holding a nightstand gun for when things go bump in the night, theft deterrence isn't the purpose anyway. And if you don't have little hands to keep off your guns, you wouldn't need a lock box for a nightstand gun anyway.
Recently picked up a pair of Hornady electronic gun vaults. RFID or a hand-shaped keypad to open. Battery backup for power out conditions and barrel key for casual/backup access. The RFID tag on my keyring is much faster. Also have a credit card sized RFID card in my wallet. So far, so good.
Tactically true. However, some of us are in jurisdictions that either outright mandate guns be locked or ascribe significant liability if 'someone' unauthorized gets hold of it if you didn't have it locked even if that person breaks in and steals it after beating you to a pulp because you couldn't access your defensive tool fast enough. Kind of like being charged for being the pedestrian who gets hit by the DUI guy - the fact the other guy was driving on the sidewalk is irrelevant - you are required somehow to not be on the sidewalk when he comes along or else it is partially your fault. So from either a legal compliance or a risk management perspective, these things are necessary for some of us.If children or guests aren't a factor , I don't see a use for them .
I certainly agree with you about where you live and the "hoops" some folks deal with to keep a firearm in your home. I went the route to TEACH my son when he was little what a "toy" gun was and what a "real" gun was. I took him to the range when he was too small to shoot anything, but as soon as he was big enough, I trained him right.Tactically true. However, some of us are in jurisdictions that either outright mandate guns be locked or ascribe significant liability if 'someone' unauthorized gets hold of it if you didn't have it locked even if that person breaks in and steals it after beating you to a pulp because you couldn't access your defensive tool fast enough. Kind of like being charged for being the pedestrian who gets hit by the DUI guy - the fact the other guy was driving on the sidewalk is irrelevant - you are required somehow to not be on the sidewalk when he comes along or else it is partially your fault. So from either a legal compliance or a risk management perspective, these things are necessary for some of us.
I am just glad that I live in a "Free State"!!!!!
Sorry Jerry, but having to enter some code will not stop mistakes. If that's what you're relying on to wake you up so you'll be safe with a gun you need to re-think your home defence strategy because that method and your storage facility could get you killed one day.
The instant you have a gun in your hand you'd better be ready to use it safely. Train yourself to be awake BEFORE you touch that gun. Training, training and more training is the only way to become safe and proficient with a gun no matter what time of the day or night it is. The fact is, that when you have to wake up suddenly in the middle of the night, sure you're going to be a bit slow but that doesn't mean you can't learn to be safe in that state of mind.
Shoving it in a box and not testing it before you need it is just asking for trouble. Get it together before something bad happens Jerry, we'd like to have you around the "Forum" for a while yet.
My apologies for the lecture Jerry, but I felt the need to say something.
Bud
The instant you have a gun in your hand you'd better be ready to use it safely. Train yourself to be awake BEFORE you touch that gun. Training, training and more training is the only way to become safe and proficient with a gun no matter what time of the day or night it is. The fact is, that when you have to wake up suddenly in the middle of the night, sure you're going to be a bit slow but that doesn't mean you can't learn to be safe in that state of mind.
Shoving it in a box and not testing it before you need it is just asking for trouble. Get it together before something bad happens Jerry, we'd like to have you around the "Forum" for a while yet.
My apologies for the lecture Jerry, but I felt the need to say something.
Bud
I like to have something to do, like put a code in, so I'm fully awake when I have the gun. Stops mistakes. I figure my idea of getting an ant-theft safe and setting the combo one digit before the digit that opens it would wake my mind up. I'm afraid of being groggy with a gun ready to shoot.
Sorry Jerry, but having to enter some code will not stop mistakes. If that's what you're relying on to wake you up so you'll be safe with a gun you need to re-think your home defence strategy because that method and your storage facility could get you killed one day.
The instant you have a gun in your hand you'd better be ready to use it safely. Train yourself to be awake BEFORE you touch that gun. Training, training and more training is the only way to become safe and proficient with a gun no matter what time of the day or night it is. The fact is, that when you have to wake up suddenly in the middle of the night, sure you're going to be a bit slow but that doesn't mean you can't learn to be safe in that state of mind.
Shoving it in a box and not testing it before you need it is just asking for trouble. Get it together before something bad happens Jerry, we'd like to have you around the "Forum" for a while yet.
My apologies for the lecture Jerry, but I felt the need to say something.
Bud
Add to that...you must be able to do all that in the dark!
I have one of these and it works very well. Batteries run out but it has a key to open it just in case.
GunVault GV1000C-DLX Pistol Safe Mini Deluxe GV1000C-DLX
GunVault GV1000C-DLX Pistol Safe Mini Deluxe GV1000C-DLX
1 - 18 of 18 Posts
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